The fund’s CEO said Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional is rebalancing its portfolio to be more resilient to market volatility.
The fund said Khazanah’s net worth fell 5% to 81 billion ringgit ($17.4 billion) in 2022 from a year ago, due to a downward trend in the global market. said in March. The Kuala Lumpur-based fund invests more than half of its portfolio in the public market.
Khazanah CEO Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir told CNBC on Monday on the sidelines of the Energy Asia conference in Kuala Lumpur: “What we’re focusing on here is looking at how we can be flexible. a little more active in the market.”
“Looking at the volatility in the market, we are still in the process of rebalancing our portfolio,” he added.
Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional is consolidating its portfolio for better resilience in volatile markets, according to Amirul Feisal CEO Wan Zahir.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | beautiful pictures
Khazanah posted a net profit of 1.6 billion ringgit ($343 million) in 2022 — more than double its net profit year-over-year and fourth consecutive annual net profit after an unprecedented plunge seen in 2018.
By comparison, the MSCI World index is down more than 18 percent in 2022 and the MSCI Emerging Markets index is down 20 percent in the same period.
By the end of 2022, Khazanah he said 55.9% of its portfolio is invested in the Malaysian public markets, with 13.4% invested in the overseas mass markets. Nearly a quarter of its portfolio is invested in the private market, more than half outside of Malaysia, with 8% invested in real assets.
“There is really a lot of potential in asset deployment,” said Wan Zahir, pointing to investment opportunities in a volatile market environment.
“For the time being, when you look at industrial consolidation… or we know that there is a rising interest rate environment and companies are going to be squeezed – especially when you look at it,” he said. consumer companies or highly leveraged firms”.
Inflation rates have remained at consistently high levels globally despite repeated rate hikes as central banks sought to rein in ultra-easy monetary policy in the years following the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Rising interest rates and increasing output have combined to hurt many companies.
“But it speaks to CEOs and corporations – how can I really reduce my costs?” Van Zahir said.
“So when you look at areas like business services, you might as well have an opportunity in the private equity space there.”
